Will the Apple electric car be built in Ireland?

Apple is apparently working on an electric car in Ireland, if new advertised vacancies are anything to go by.

The company is planning a "major expansion" of its operations in Ireland, and its plan focuses on increasing the size of its facility in Cork, The Irish Independent reports.

Its factory in Hollyhill, Cork received €300 million (£215 million) in investment from Apple just 18 months ago, but it's now planning to expand it further. A job listing for Apple's Cork office says it is hiring a "Global Supplier Manager/Procurement Manager," and the job listing states that applicants must have "previous experience in Automotive/Robotics/Aeronautic Industry."

There have been numerous rumours of Apple building its own electric car, which is something we've covered before. As we reported earlier, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said he does not fear Apple’s move into the electric car market, seeing the added competition as a great thing for the industry.

Apple is preparing an electric, self-driving car for mass market by 2020, reports show. The car would be Apple’s first major venture outside of technology, and the newest product after the Apple Watch launched earlier this year.

Business Insider says Apple reportedly wants to expand to an area currently used as a Traveller halting site (a piece of land reserved for Irish travellers or other nomadic groups). Apple "basically owns an entire hill there," said a local resident, but it wants to use the space to build a giant new factory complex.